The 56th Annual NGO CSW Forum kicked off this year’s program with an exciting opening ceremony on 26 February 2012. The event was attended by UN officials, international NGOs, among many other members of civil society. During a panel discussion focused on regional issues, representatives from the different regions throughout the world brought up many challenges women face in the regions including the need to increase women’s participation in the peace process, preventing violence against women and children, to increasing the number of women in government positions. During this panel on several occasions there was reference made to the UN Resolution 1325. In essence, this resolution captures the general concerns of the women from all regions. Adopted on 31 October 2000 by the Security Council, this resolution calls upon member states in light of UN’s Day for Women to take action on protecting women’s rights across a number of levels. One speaker noted that only two countries (Phillipines and Nepal) have adopted national action plans to support UN Res. 1325 while many other countries have drafted their national action plans like Australia and Indonesia. Speakers also noted that many other countries are looking at alternatives of implementing laws to support the initiatives. The panel noted that their regions are far from reaching these goals and that “Women have kept the resolution alive for the last 12 years." panel noted that their regions are far from reaching these goals and that “Women have kept the resolution alive for the last 12 years.”